The new European commissioner for migration Magnus Brunner, appointed by Austria, declared that he is in favor of including Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen area.
Austria could approve Romania’s accession to Schengen. Photo by Shutterstock
On November 22, Hungary is organizing, in Budapest, a summit of the interior ministers of Austria, Romania and Bulgaria, where this topic will be debated again, Antena3 informs citing the Austrian press.
Magnus Brunner, who is part of Chancellor Nehammer’s party, will be heard by European deputies from Brussels on Tuesday, in his new capacity as European commissioner for migration. In addition to his position on asylum procedures in third countries, the protection of external borders, etc., the full inclusion of Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen area will be discussed again.
The fact that Magnus Brunner had already asked for this before the hearing took the Austrian press by surprise, because it meant that he was basically contradicting the line of Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, and thus of his own party , which constantly blocked the full accession of the two countries to Schengen.
According to the same source, Hungary, which until the end of this year is in charge of the European Union, will organize a summit of the interior ministers of Austria (Gerhard Karner), Romania (Marian-Cătălin Predoiu) and Bulgaria (Atanas Ilkov), where this theme be addressed. The Austrian minister confirmed his presence at the meeting on November 22, when it is possible that the restrictions for Romania and Bulgaria will be lifted.
When the blockade could be lifted
Gerhard Karner had stated that Romania and Bulgaria are not yet ready for full admission to the community space and refused to state whether or not he has changed his opinion.
However, the progress made cannot be overlooked. Thus, migration to the Balkans decreased by 62 percent and the number of illegal detentions decreased significantly not only in Austria (from 5,061 detentions in September last year, to 840 in September this year), but also in Romania, which recorded a 10 % fewer cases, and in Bulgaria, with 46% fewer arrests.
A massive decrease was also recorded in terms of the number of asylum requests: 74% less in Romania and 43% in Bulgaria, the two countries now taking in immigrants who applied for asylum in Austria, but were registered for the first time given in Romania or Bulgaria.
In this context, the chances of Romania becoming a full member of the Schengen area increase again, and the accession could be decided at the next JAI Council, on December 12, according to the same source.
